MAY 1, 1915 



353 



BEEKEEPING IN CALIFORNIA 



P. C. ChadwJck, Redlands, Cal. 



There is little danger of disease 

 from stray swarms if hived on 

 foundation. The lapse of time be- 

 fore the queen can begin laying 

 removes any likelihood of disease 

 beinsr carried. 



are you going to do? Take a bit of advice 

 from me. Put your combs away dry and 

 clean, and have them in shape when needed. 

 Wet combs catch dust and dirt, harbor filth, 

 and will be riddled by moth just as quickly 

 as dry ones if there is food for moth in 

 them. 



Hot, dry, electric weather the past two 

 weeks has caused beekeepers some worry. 

 Some indications of rain are now develop- 

 ing, and it is to be hoped we get sufficient to 

 keep the surface moist. 



Out of all the colonies requeened last 

 season, not one queenless colony has been 

 found; while ten per cent of the two-year- 

 old queens have disappeared during the 

 winter and spring, leaving fertile-worker 

 colonies in most instances. 



Economy in bee time is really an impor- 

 tant factor. Weeds in front of hives, an 

 entrance too small, an alighting-board too 

 narrow, and hives set high off the ground, 

 allowing the wind to toy with them, all have 

 a tendency to retard their progi'ess. 



After being free of foul brood in ray 

 apiary for five years, I have suddenly dis- 

 covered a case of American. They were 

 promptly destroyed, and I fear no further 

 trouble. Black brood is cropping out badly 

 in many sections, some places being ex- 

 tremely bad, and apparently hard to get 

 under control. 



While I was shaking combs to get the 

 queen below an excluder, a considerable 

 amount of nectar fell on a board which I 

 was using in front of the hive to catch the 

 bees as an alighting-board. It was very 

 thin, and I supposed it would evaporate, 

 leaving only a sticky place on the board. 

 To my great surprise, after it had remained 

 in the sun all day I found it to be thick 

 heavy honey with not nearly the amount of 

 decrease by evaporation I had expected. 



Will wax-moth work on wet combs? Now 

 you novices in the business, be careful. Here 

 comes a man who says motti will not work 

 on wet combs; another says they will. What 



T have been trying out a new scale for 

 buying swarms. It does not pay to give a 

 fixed price for swarms of all sizes. Some 

 are worth no more than half the amount of 

 others. Their value differing so much at 

 different times of the season, it is hard to 

 make a season's scale ; but the idea is to pay 

 a certain price up to six or seven pounds, 

 after which an increase of one-half is added 

 to each additional pound; for example, ten 

 cents per pound for the first five pounds; 

 fifteen cents per pound for each additional 

 pound up to ten pounds, then twenty cents 

 per pound for all above ten pounds. 



There has not been so much swarming in 

 recent yeai-s as is now going on. Every 

 colony seems bent on swarming, whether it 

 be in the side of a house, a neglected one in 

 the back yard, or those under daily care. 

 Swarms are flying in every direction, enter- 

 ing houses by the score, and causing the 

 timid housewife much worry. I have cap- 

 tured sixteen during the past ten days, some 

 by paying a small sum in cash, and some by 

 answering the pleadings of people begging 

 to have them taken away. I attribute the 

 trouble to the advanced condition of bees 

 when the nectar began flowing freely, which 

 seemed to set them wild for swarming. 



There has never been, to my knowledge, 

 a greater amount of nectar in the orange 

 than at the present time. Bees are working 

 it to the limit, and I look for the greatest 

 crop of orange honey ever harvested in this 

 state. The sage is not so promising as a 

 few Aveeks ago, and I fear there will be 

 much less from this source tlian has been 

 figured on by many. Bees are flying miles 

 over good sage-fields going to the orange. 

 The plants seem to be less healthy than at 

 one time, and the sage weevil is getting an 

 early start with its work. Bees are paying 

 very little attention to sage, but this may 

 be partly due to the excessive amount the 

 orange is yielding. 



